


Pampering

by NinesByDawn



Series: Nest Building [12]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23548267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinesByDawn/pseuds/NinesByDawn
Summary: Even the most serious of heroes just want a little bit of pampering sometimes.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Raven, Robrae
Series: Nest Building [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655041
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	Pampering

**Author's Note:**

> Almost there. This is definitely the fluffiest one of all.
> 
> TY everyone, especially Junery, for your support :)

His pampering usually came in the early mornings.

Robin turned his face to different angles as he applied the shaving cream around his mouth and down his neck. His hair was down and he rinsed one hand, then brushed some of it out of his eye as he continued applying the cream. Once he was finished, he picked up the razor, starting from his right side, carefully shaving the majority of the sideburn off in one motion. He was starting on the side of his cheek when he heard the door to the bathroom open behind him.

“You could always just splash some water on your face, you know. Would make it a lot quicker.”

“It’s safer this way,” he replied, spotting her reflection in the mirror. “There won’t be any ingrown hairs or cuts or other things.”

“You’re not exactly over here sprouting a beard, Boy Blunder,” she said, shaking her head. She took a few steps until they were side by side, and glanced at him sideways with her arms folded. “It’s just all these little chin hairs you can get in one go.”

“Oh well,” he said, briefly shrugging before starting on the other side of his face.

“Don’t forget the fuzz here,” she teased, putting a finger on her upper lip.

“Never.” He turned the razor sideways and swiped across his upper lip. A moment later, Robin finished getting the last of his neck, and turned on the sink, cupping water in his hands and splashing his face. He buried his face in a towel and wiped, rubbing it dry.

“You missed a spot,” Raven pointed out. A small bit of water promptly hit the side of his neck, before the towel floated out of his hands and wiped it off.

“Thanks.”

“Ready?” she asked.

“Ready,” he confirmed, nodding. She squeezed a small pebble-sized dot of hair gel into her hands and rubbed it, before standing ever so slightly on the balls of her feet to put it into the top of his hair and check her work in the mirror. He smiled in contentment as her hands ran through his hair, a little damp still from his shower but dry enough for the gel to stick. He obviously knew what was best for him in terms of styling his own hair, but it always felt better when she did it.

“You sure you don’t want a haircut?” Raven asked as she rubbed her hands against the sides of his head. “You’d save a _lot_ on hair gel. And it’s easier to wash.”

“It’s definitely better, practically speaking, for sure. But there’s no _style_ to it.”

“You’ve always thought practicality was the most important consideration.”

“But I also believe in great looks, great confidence,” Robin said with a grin. Raven let out a “tch” and finished rubbing the gel in.

“The usual?” she asked, lifting a strand with her fingers. “Or do you want something different?”

“Surprise me,” he replied. Raven nodded and began spiking his hair up, until most of it stood almost straight up. She smoothed out his sides and back with the back of her palm, then floated a comb into her hand. Peering over the top of him again, she drew the comb across his hair from right to left, carefully maintaining the evenness. Raven smoothed out the parting in his hair on the upper right corner of his head with the end of the comb, then examined his look in the mirror again. She touched up a few more things before setting down the comb. Robin’s hair was now styled distinctly towards his left, with the top of his hair smooth rather than the uneven spikiness they were all accustomed to seeing. A smaller but obvious parting showed on the right edge of his head, with the sides maintaining the same smoothness as the top.

“So. What do you think?”

“Looks great,” he said approvingly. “Where’d you learn how to do this look?”

“Looked it up,” she said with a shrug. She washed her hands off, then turned to him. “Sometimes I feel like I think about this more than you do.”

“I’ve been doing the same look for years, so that’s a distinct possibility,” he chuckled. Robin looked his body over in the mirror again, turning to his side. Raven raised an eyebrow as he continued looking at his reflection. He pinched his stomach, and sighed. “I’m getting fat.”

“Please,” Raven snorted. “Let me guess, you’re up to 6% body fat now. Cry me a river.”

“Fat by my standards, of course. Is my—”

“Your laundry’s on your bed,” Raven answered. “And the coffee’s brewed. There’s some leftover water in the kettle too, if you want to try some of my chamomile.”

“Didn’t even have to ask,” Robin said, smiling.

“Of course not.” The empath left and Robin cleaned up his toiletries before heading back to his room. Once he entered the main room, the others commented positively on his hairstyle, Starfire in particular being fascinated by the many different ways his hair could look. Robin hadn’t told them yet who was doing the styling, but he grinned as he thought about it while he continued to converse with his teammates.

* * *

Her pampering usually came in the mid-afternoons.

In an extremely common scene, Raven sat alone on the couch, reading, as the rays of the receding sun shone through the large glass panels of the tower. This particular novel was a foray into science fiction, involving the automation of menial jobs and how it would cause the eventual decline of complexity and free thinking in human society. The first of a trilogy, the central plot didn’t particularly interest her, but the characters were well-written and she was engrossed by the gradual development of the main character’s moral stance on the situation. A wry smirk crossed her face as she thought about the horrible waitress job she’d worked. Perhaps it would be better to replace those jobs with robots.

Her eyes were glazing over a passage when she sensed his presence. A few seconds later, he sat down next to her and put his arm around her. She instinctively leaned into his body, without moving her eyes from the book.

“Hope I’m not interrupting you in the middle of a good part.”

“On the contrary, the exposition here is boring me to death,” she muttered. “I might just skim over this chapter…”

“But then you might miss something important.”

“Nothing’s happened in the last seven pages. I doubt it.”

“Why are you reading this, anyway?” Robin asked, peering at the page she was on.

“It’s always good to expand your comfort zone,” Raven replied, flipping the page. “The characters are the only thing driving this book, honestly. But I kind of understand better why other people are into this now.” They stayed silent for a minute as she read from the page. Another minute passed, and her eyes slowly moved from left to right, as if processing the text in slow motion. Yet another minute passed, and Robin noticed she still hadn’t flipped the page. She was a quick reader, so he knew it must have been extremely dry for her to still not have finished. That, or she was having trouble understanding the text, but he doubted that was the case given her experience with books.

“Do you want some help relaxing?” he offered. Her lips pursed.

“Perhaps.”

“You’re allowed to speak up earlier, you know.”

“You’re comfortable enough already as a pillow. I’m not greedy,” she said.

“I don’t know about that,” Robin said, letting out a slight laugh. He moved his hand under her cloak and up to between her neck and shoulders, and brought his other hand to the same spot on the other side to match. Raven leaned a little closer into him to compensate for being without his arm around her. Robin gave her a gentle squeeze with both his hands, beginning the massage. Raven finally turned the page, and breathed a sigh of relief that she could see the end of the chapter on the next page. The Boy Wonder moved one hand over to the back of her neck, giving her a few light squeezes, while maintaining the pressure with his other hand. Raven kept her focus on the novel, but found it easier to process the text she was reading now. Robin moved both his hands to the side of her neck, just past the back of it, and stuck two fingers out on each hand, rubbing her neck in small circles. A few quiet “Mmm”s escaped her mouth as he continued relaxing her muscles. Robin’s hands slowly made their way back to her upper back, massaging all the while.

Just like how her novel was part of a trilogy, his treatment also had three parts. Robin began part two, running a hand through her violet hair. His fingers separated and he pulled each one of them gently through some of her locks. He winced when he accidentally ran through some tangled strands with too much force, but it didn’t seem to affect her. Raven’s short hair didn’t leave a lot of room to play with, but he made do with what he had, fluffing up parts of it while still massaging her with his other hand. Raven had been in the same position since he’d started, laying on him, only moving to lift her hand up to turn the page. However, she was still occasionally making those quiet sounds that signaled contentedness, and he felt it emanating from her too through the bond. Robin moved his hand up to her dome and scratched the top of her head a few times. He continued for another minute before shifting beneath her so he could get free. His hearing picked up on the small whine she let out as he did so.

“Do you want a snack?” Robin asked. “Grapes?” She looked up and met his eyes.

“Sure.” Robin got up and went over to the kitchen, pulling out the bag from the fridge. He washed them and put them in a big bowl, carrying it over to the couch.

“Catch,” he called once he was in front of her. He plucked one of them from the vine and lobbed it at her. The grape stopped inches from her face, and was then floated into her mouth. “How about no powers now?” Robin challenged. “Catch it for real.” She looked up at him with slight annoyance, and watched as he tossed one in the air, then caught it in his mouth. Robin plucked another one and aimed it at her. “Open wide.”

“No,” Raven said, her eyes narrowing. “Set the bowl down.” He obliged and put it in front of her.

“Just try once,” Robin insisted. “From close range, maybe.” The grape in his fingers became covered in dark energy, then shot towards her open mouth and disappeared.

“Nah,” Raven replied, tilting her head back down to her book. “Get over here.” Robin sat back down next to her and she did a little bounce on the couch, landing back on his chest. She glanced backwards at him for a moment. “I’m not quite fully relaxed yet, you know.” Robin smiled and put his hands back on her. And so it went, Robin continuing to massage Raven and play with her hair, the scene punctuated by him occasionally plucking a grape and feeding it to her.


End file.
